


Death Next Door

by monopuro



Category: Left 4 Dead (Video Games)
Genre: always room for improvement, i dont even know where im going with this but hope its enjoyable nonetheless, this is my first fanfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 02:04:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16965663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monopuro/pseuds/monopuro
Summary: A strange noise... a strange outcome. Follow the misadventures of Violet Clarke and whatever friends she makes along the way as they try to entertain themselves in the apocolypse.





	1. Chapter 1

I think I heard something today. But not like the things you hear every day. Not things like distant car alarms, or people walking around, or maybe some crows. This ‘something’ was damn loud. It hurt my ears and I even screamed. I think it was a jet, which is something I haven’t heard around here before. I was the only one around who reacted to it, because the people around this town are probably braindead. I try to talk to them, but they don’t understand me. Or maybe they can’t hear me. Or maybe they’re just ignoring me. I have been told that I’m annoying. 

Anyways, I wanted to follow the sound like I usually do with every other odd noise. It was gone quick, but I heard where it went, so I started my trek. I like to believe I am good at hunting things down. Originally, I wanted to go alone, but that’s probably a bad idea. I have a few friends I can ask to come with me. Not sure where they went though. That was also bad. I hope they’re not hurt, because that would be MORE than ‘bad’. So, I guess I’ll have to settle with option one, which isn’t too bad anyways. 

When I wander, my mind does too. I walk slower than the common people when my mind wanders. Which is really saying something, since the common people are very slow sometimes. Not when they’re running. They’re all pretty dumb, though. They don’t interact with each other unless they’re fighting over something or someone. Though I believe it’s a little rude to fight over every little thing, I don’t promote a ‘sharing is caring’ mentality either. None of us are good at sharing things.  
But there is one time about a week ago where I met someone who wasn’t so mean. A young boy, I think. Probably fifteen or so, must’ve not converted fully yet. He gave me a half-empty package of crackers he had on him from earlier. Said he didn’t want it anymore, which was a lie, because he will want those crackers eventually. It was real kind of him to do that, but I’m sure he didn’t last too much longer with that mentality. I think that’s why I remember him, but... 

Suddenly, I heard some guns fire nearby. Usually I don’t get so spooked because there are groups around here that have lots and lots and lots of guns, but these guns were very close by. Luckily it wasn’t me they were shooting at, so it gave me some time to hide. I took to the rooftops, mostly because they couldn’t climb walls so easily, and I would be hidden there. I didn’t want to take any chances on the ground. I hope my friends are okay, but I don’t think I’m so worried about them. They’re plenty strong. It really sucks that this group had to come along, because the interruption made me forget what I was thinking about. I don’t even know what group it is, because all I know is that one of them keeps talking. A guy. Which doesn’t help, because all the groups have at least one guy in them. It doesn’t really matter anyways though, because it isn’t like I plan to get to know them. 

Sometimes I get the urge to just jump down there and get all up close and personal. It is really confusing because I’ve been told to ‘go with my gut’ when deciding on things but doing so means I get riddled with bullet holes. 

I didn’t mind getting on the rooftops at all because it makes travelling way faster than in the crowded streets. I do wish I had someone to talk to, though. It's been about 2 days since I last talked to anyone, and I was getting tired of being lonely. On top of being tired in general, though I don’t need to sleep that much. I can just keep going, and going, and- 

“AAH-!” was all I could get out before my face collided with the stone roof. 

I put a hand to my face, to make sure everything was there. My nose wasn’t broken, which is what I was primarily worried about, but the smell of blood flooded the senses. Like, my blood. My senses. I heard footsteps behind me, which made me jerk my head towards who I might have just tripped over. 

“...Are you okay?” The voice asked, in a tired voice, but with kindess in it. 

It sounded familiar to me, but I couldn’t remember where I heard it. It has gotten so hard to remember things lately. 

“Are you okay?” They said again, which made me snap out of my trace. 

“Uh. Yeah, yeah I am.” I replied hastily as I raised to my feet. “Sorry I tripped over you... uh ...who’re you?”  
This time the person didn’t respond. I think they might’ve shrugged because they don’t know, but I wouldn’t be able to tell. I didn’t get a chance to ask either, because I felt them rub the blood from my running nose, using what I hope is they’re shirt or a cloth. I flinched, but barely, because I’m not foreign to unexpected contact. 

“Mind telling me what you are?” It felt rude to ask, because most people tend to judge people by what you are nowadays. Even I tend to have some assumptions. 

“...Common infected.” 

I figured it was reasonable, but commons have a very small vocabulary. I wanted to say I was impressed, but maybe that is rude. 

“Oh, yeah, that’s cool. My name is Violet. Uh... Is there anything I can call you by? It doesn’t have to be your name, but-” 

“Connor.” 

“Common it is!” It was simple enough to remember, and that’s helpful. It was just nice to have someone to talk to. I’ll bring him with me.


	2. The Kitchen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor can’t keep track of Violet.

How long will we keep walking? I know it’s only been a half-hour, but I was starting to wonder if she knew where we were going... I was just following her. She keeps trying to start a conversation with me... But it is so hard for me to think of a reply. And that weird nickname she’s been calling me... At least I assume that’s her nickname for me. Or did I give it to her? I’m sure as hell I didn’t. It’s a stupid nickname. 

“So, after that happened, I heard this really weird noise and I wanted to check it out! I was wondering where my friends were, but I thought that-” 

Naturally, I tuned her out. She just doesn’t stop talking. Telling her to stop would be rather rude, especially since it’s so apparent that she wants attention. But does she ever take a breath? Seriously, I don’t think she's paused between statements. 

It’s been about a week since I last seen her. I recognize her. Violet, I mean. If I recall, I was already destined to become one of them. The infected. I heard her mumbling or something, and thought she was human. I gave her the last of my crackers, since I figured I would die fairly quickly to other survivors. Turns out she was infected already. She didn’t attack me, though. Just took the crackers. I did regret it a day later, because turns out infected need nutrients like normal humans, which sucked. 

Oh, I did it again. Trailed off in my thoughts again, and now she’s gone. This is the fourth time if I remember correctly. You see, I’ve noticed that she has been doing this a lot. Violet gets sidetracked and lost a lot. Fortunately, she has at least some sense of navigation. I’ll just wait for her to make her way back. She can come back on her own, can’t she?

I should go after her. 

Backtracking, I came to an alleyway which was blocked off by a tall green fence. Too high for me to see over, but I was still able to climb it using the staircase that was nearby. And there she was, sitting on one of the cheap plastic chairs. She didn’t notice me, but I could see that had something in her mouth. My guess? That pile of infected corpses nearby was because of her. I did remember mentioning that infected don’t interact with each other unless they’re fighting over something.  
I hopped over the fence, which got her attention, because she growled and got out of her chair.

“Relax, Violet. It’s just me.” 

“Ah! You! Common!” She replied, exiting the threatening stance. 

“It’s actually-” 

She interrupted by giving me a sudden embrace. At least she’s happy to see me? But... She was hugging a little too tightly for my liking. 

“We should get moving, then.” I said, as I pried her from me. 

Reunited, we continued through the alley without any further distractions. But given it was only a short stroll until we were in a dead end, there wasn’t much to be distracted by anyways. A building stood in our way. And with a building came a door... 

———————————————————————————

“Let’s just go over!” Violet suggested, as she fidgeted with the door’s knob. 

Again, I reminded Violet that I couldn’t scale a building like she could. She suggested that I just climb on her shoulders, but I wasn’t ready to take that risk. We had been going at this for at least a minute, completely avoiding the door. 

But in a fit of frustration, Violet just decided to kick the door right off the damn hinges. Completely destroyed it. It was amusing to see her on the ground because I told her it would hurt if she kicked it. At least we solved the door problem. 

Through the doorway was a kitchen shrouded in darkness. I don’t have the best eyesight in the world, so as soon as Violet stepped into the room, she blended in completely. I couldn’t even hear where she was walking, because unless she’s going on about whatever, she’s silent. Damn hunters. Leading myself against the wall, I made my way to the light switch and flipped it. It took a few seconds, but luckily the lights still worked in this place. Violet still looked like she was stuck in the dark, though. 

“Hey, I found the exit. Follow me.” I said, as I grabbed her by the hood and tugged her along. 

The dining area wasn’t too crowded, except for a boomer who was sitting in one of the chairs. Violet must’ve smelt the puke on him, because she tried to run over and converse with him. Since I still had a firm grip on her hood, she didn’t get very far before I lead her out of the restaurant and into the street. Violet called out a greeting from a distance, which was fine, because at least she wasn’t running off. 

Then I heard someone...talking. Close. Very close. Two people, arguing, I heard them. Clasping a hand over Violet’s mouth, I got her to shut up as I brought her to cover in a dark alley way and listened. In the building next to us, I heard people talking. In the building next to us, I heard one of those survivor groups inside. They most likely had guns with them, we could’ve gotten killed just now. She must’ve heard them too, because now she was gripping to me, crouching down where I sat. 

I watched as one of them stepped out to kill the infected in the streets. You know, for fun. Luckily it wasn’t one of us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :^) hello! thank you for reading the second chapter. Sorry if the constant change of pov is confusing. It will alternate every chapter between Violet and Connor for now (unless I state otherwise).  
> I just feel comfortable typing about what the characters themselves are thinking and experiencing. Not sure if this is efficient or not because this is my first story.


	3. The Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violet is tired of sitting around.

We tried waiting for the group of people to leave the building. I don’t think they’ve left yet. I can faintly smell the blood on their clothes. Or maybe that’s just me. 

“Are they gone yet? What time is it?” I asked as I turned to Common. 

“They aren’t, it’s almost night though. They might be camping out inside.” He replied. “Can you let go of me?”

Right. I mumbled an apology as I released him. I was just protecting him in case something went wrong! Maybe I was also just scared. Standing up, I felt the cold brick of the building where those people are. I heard Common told me he planned to take me and leave before the morning comes, but I don’t think that would come for a while. 

I sat there for a while, watching the infected shamble around. Shamble, shamble. Oh, the sounds they made. Something inside me urged me to do something. Kill something. I could do that, maybe. To pass the time. But I didn’t, because everything seems so peaceful right now. No car alarms, no gun shots, birds sing in the small trees. That boomer in the kitchen wasn’t even making any noise anymore! He must’ve left. Or he was shot. The survivors weren’t arguing with each other anymore. Not a word. After thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve heard them speak for a while. 

Common was perched against the wall. He was sleeping, I think. I hope so, because I’m leaving him alone for a bit. Hopefully he can take care of himself. The reason I’m moving is because I remember how previous survivors leave their food out overnight. I don’t want to leave until I get some. So, I crept out of the alley we were hiding in and went up to the door of the safe room. At least I remembered how to open these ones, because all you have to do is push it open. Though I must’ve pushed it too hard, because I heard it made a loud bang when colliding with the wall. Thankfully that wasn’t enough to wake the survivors, who I assumed were sleeping. 

I’ve been in this building a few times before, so I knew where to look to find the food. I made my way towards the middle of the long room, as silent as I could muster. Feeling the island shelfs, there wasn’t much on them, but I did find what I think are a few cans of... something. I can’t read them. I grabbed one, another one, and one more. I could hear something in the background, maybe a coffee machine, but it wasn’t a noise I was worried about, so I didn’t mind it. Why is there a coffee machine running, though? 

Flip. Click. 

“Hoooly shit. Look what we’ve got here.” I heard, in a low, toneless voice. It belonged to a person, for sure. But not an infected. One of the survivors woke up. Or were they awake the whole time? 

I turned to the source of the voice, unmoving. I certainly recognized the previous sounds. A light switch, and a gun. I knew all too well that it’s pointing at me. 

“Ugh...” I heard another one, from behind me. A more honeyed, feminine voice this time. She must’ve been sleeping, because I can hear her throwing something (blanket? Maybe.) off her. “Nick, what are you-” 

Then she froze as well, going silent. Probably at the sight of me. I was going to just attack the single survivor (whose name must be “Nick”), because I can take a single foe... But now that another one has sights on me, I’m in deep shit. Maybe if I put the cans back, I can leave without a bullet in the head? 

I can hear them conversing quietly to each other, but I can’t understand it much. It's like they don’t want me hearing their plan to blow off my head, or rip off my limbs, or cast a plague on my family, or maybe steal my firstborn. Gruesome mental images aside, I tried to creep towards the door, before the voice of Nick stops me. Well... more like his gun stopped me, as he fired way too close for my comfort. It worked, because I yelped as I froze on the spot. At times like this, I wish I was a stronger infected. Not some wimpy one that everyone makes fun of. 

I heard metal clang on a counter. The woman is raising her voice, but still very quietly. Something about leaving the door open. 

Taking the minor horde as an opportunity, I shoved the two cans in my hoodie’s pockets and bolted for the door. The man shouted and started firing his pistol at me. I didn’t care though, I just kept running out. As soon as I was through the door, I felt common infected push and shove past me, attracted to the noise the survivors were making. Good. But I rounded the corner and slammed right into Common. It didn’t stop me, though. 

“Violet? What’s going-??” He yelled, as I grabbed him by his shirt. I tried my best to explain but at the time it just came out as screeches. I started climbing the building as fast as I could with the other available hand, careful not to drop him. I just wanted to get out of there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3rd chapter! Thank you for the kudos and comments, I really appreciate it! (really do). Hope you enjoy #3!


	4. The Cold Soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Common learns what he can about Violet.

My mind is still racing. I didn’t... I didn’t plan for that. What just happened? I can hear guns below us, so I’m grateful that Violet got us out of whatever that mess was... But why? 

After regaining focus, I turned my eyes to Violet. She was on the ground, breathing heavily, and looked scared to death. I guess it must’ve been hard to scale a building with an occupied hand, and under the pressure of getting shot... As soon as I accepted the thought of just letting her rest, she abruptly jumped up, a smile now replacing her previously terrified look. She pulled two cans from her pockets, shaking them excitedly. 

“That was a rush, huh, Common? But look what I got!” She was practically jumping up and down with pride at this point. “I’m so damn cool, man!” 

“You’re hit.” I point out flatly. She was bleeding badly. I could see the side of her green jacket turn crimson with her blood. 

Confused, she dropped the can and felt herself around. Picking up the can, I wanted a good look at it. It was difficult to make out all the text in the darkness, but I clearly saw the giant brand name. It’s just cans of soup. Looking back to Violet, I saw her face turning sour as she finally found her wound. 

“...It’ll heal, don’t worry, Common. I get shot a bunch! You wanna see?” I had to quickly refuse before she had the chance to undress. 

She laid down on the roof, so I did the same. But she kept prodding at the wound. I told her to stop, but she won’t listen. It bugged me. None of us knew how to help it, so I’ll just have to hope she’s right and it will heal eventually. She seemed fine for now though, because she obviously had the energy to tell me every detail of what happened. I already had a guess on what went down, but I let her speak anyway. 

After a while, she stopped, having caught me up. It only took her that long because she forgets what she was thinking about and moves on to other things, before continuing her previous one. I swear, if she could, Violet could write a novel with how many stories she thinks of on the fly. In fact, I’ve mentioned this to her earlier, but she got upset and insisted that all she’s saying is true. But I can’t imagine anyone could have fun in an apocalypse. Not even her. The... uh... 

“How old are you?” I question. Thinking on it, I kind of want to get to know her before I talk about her within my mind. 

“Oh! I think I just turned 26. I don’t know what day it is anymore, so it’s just a-” 

26? She’s 26? She’s almost twice my age, and acts like a damn child? 

“-and I have an older brother who is kind of mean, and an older sister who has really curly hair, and a...” She stops her thoughts. “I forgot all the rest. Hey! Let’s eat what’s in the cans, since we have some downtime.” 

She grabbed her can, and I gave her mine. I would’ve mentioned that we don’t have a can opener, but I guess if she uses her claws, it’d be- 

But I watched as she took her claw and stabbed through the can with it, causing the liquid inside to spray onto both of us. Oh hell no. I took the other can from her before she could impale that one, too. I wanted to save this until I find a better way to open it, but since I don’t have pockets like she does, I’ll have to hold it until I get desperate enough to ask her for help. I wasn’t worried about getting a little liquid on me, it’s just that I don’t want Violet sticking HER finger in MY soup. You don’t know the last time she washed herself. 26, this girl is. Am I supposed to call her a ‘woman’? I still think she’s lying. No way she’s that old. 

Meanwhile, Violet seem contented – despite staining her hoodie with soup and with a nasty wound - as she ate whatever hadn’t previously leaked out of the can. The silence didn’t last very long, because only a minute later I heard the can clink as she put it down. 

“I’m done... what are we going to do now?” She said, her leg bouncing as she glanced around. 

“Have you ever learned to just...relax? We don’t need to be moving every second of our lives, you know.” 

“I know, I’m just...” She held her head in her hands, slouching. “Just so BORED. I just want to go... do something!” 

I really didn’t want to send Violet off to entertain herself while she was injured. Especially so close to the people with guns, who were already pissed at her. “How about you tell me about how you lost your eyes?” I gestured towards her eyes, which were currently covered with uneven, brown bangs. Violet turned to me but didn’t look as enthusiastic to speak. 

“I told you that one already.” 

Yikes, I guess I wasn’t listening. Luckily, she couldn’t see the guilty expression that unwillingly crossed my face. “Just tell me again. We have all the time in the world.” 

“Alright,” She sighed, and turned her whole body towards me. “So, I was walking out of... a camp. I was kicked out, I remember that. I ran a while, just to get far away from that camp. I can’t remember why though, sorry.” 

I wanted to add, ‘Oh, probably because you’re infected’, but I decided to let her go on. 

“Anyways, then there was this female infected that stood over me. I didn’t see her face, and I never had the chance to, because she had long claws and she took my eyes right out of my sockets! I don’t know what she did with them because after that I was blind.” 

“Ah. That’s interesting.” I didn’t have... much to add. She probably wouldn't have the answers I wanted but I asked anyway. “Where was this ‘camp’ that you ran from?” 

“I dunno, but it must’ve had a lot of snow, which is why I have these!” She gestured towards her plain gray snow boots, stained with blood. 

Well that was helpful... At least she doesn’t seem as antsy. The peace had been restored once again. I lied down and turned to look up at the sky. It was straining to try and look at the distant stars, but it was a pleasant sight nonetheless. I wonder if Violet liked the stars. I don’t think she would remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for making it to chapter 4! I am having fun writing so far and I hope this chapter is as good as the previous ones :)

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, hello there. Not sure what I have to put here yet. Hope you enjoyed this chapter


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